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COMPARATIVE
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The comparative form of an adjective or adverb
Example:
'more surely' is the comparative of the adverb 'surely'
Synonyms:
comparative; comparative degree
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("comparative" is a kind of...):
adjective (a word that expresses an attribute of something)
adverb (a word that modifies something other than a noun)
Domain member usage:
best; better ((comparative and superlative of 'well') wiser or more advantageous and hence advisable)
better ((comparative of 'good') superior to another (of the same class or set or kind) in excellence or quality or desirability or suitability; more highly skilled than another)
finer ((comparative of 'fine') greater in quality or excellence)
worse ((comparative of 'bad') inferior to another in quality or condition or desirability)
better ((comparative of 'good') changed for the better in health or fitness)
farthermost; farthest; furthermost; furthest; utmost; uttermost ((comparatives of 'far') most remote in space or time or order)
earlier; earliest ((comparative and superlative of 'early') more early than; most early)
more; more than ((comparative of 'much' used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree)
less ((comparative of 'little' usually used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning not as great in amount or degree)
more ((comparative of 'many' used with count nouns) quantifier meaning greater in number)
fewer ((comparative of 'few' used with count nouns) quantifier meaning a smaller number of)
worse ((comparative of 'ill') in a less effective or successful or desirable manner)
closer; nearer; nigher ((comparative of 'near' or 'close') within a shorter distance)
Derivation:
comparative (relating to or based on or involving comparison)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Estimated by comparison; not absolute or complete
Example:
a relative stranger
Synonyms:
comparative; relative
Classified under:
Similar:
relational (having a relation or being related)
Derivation:
compare (examine and note the similarities or differences of)
compare (consider or describe as similar, equal, or analogous)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Relating to or based on or involving comparison
Example:
the comparative form of an adjective
Classified under:
Relational adjectives (pertainyms)
Pertainym:
comparison (relation based on similarities and differences)
Derivation:
comparative (the comparative form of an adjective or adverb)
compare (consider or describe as similar, equal, or analogous)
Context examples:
You have reduced him to his present state of poverty—comparative poverty.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
It was not in his calmness that she read his comparative difference.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
Perhaps I might; but all that you know is entirely comparative.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
Further comparative studies focusing on other distantly related land plants and their aquatic algal predecessors should reveal even more information about the evolution and role of these vital gene families.
(Ancient defence strategy continues to protect plants from pathogens, University of Cambridge)
It was he who invented buttons and loops at the ends of dress pantaloons, and who broke fresh ground by his investigation of the comparative merits of isinglass and of starch in the preparation of shirt-fronts.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Yes, I preferred the elderly and discontented doctor, surrounded by friends and cherishing honest hopes; and bade a resolute farewell to the liberty, the comparative youth, the light step, leaping impulses and secret pleasures, that I had enjoyed in the disguise of Hyde.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
The overall goals of the m-CGAP are: a comparative assessment of mouse cancer stages with those of cognate human cancers, both to validate the mouse models and to promote crossfeeding in the identification of genes that characterize those cancers; the discovery of new genes and gene pathways involved in the stages of carcinogenesis.
(Mouse Cancer Genome Anatomy Project, NCI Thesaurus)
When the ladies withdrew to the drawing-room after dinner, this poverty was particularly evident, for the gentlemen HAD supplied the discourse with some variety—the variety of politics, inclosing land, and breaking horses—but then it was all over; and one subject only engaged the ladies till coffee came in, which was the comparative heights of Harry Dashwood, and Lady Middleton's second son William, who were nearly of the same age.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
As a comparative reference, the researchers also obtained data gathered by the crew of the HMS Challenger—they had taken Pacific Ocean temperatures down to a depth of two kilometers during the years 1872 to 1876.
(Bottom of Pacific Found to Be Getting Colder, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
Were your friends, the Allens, still in Bath, you might go to them with comparative ease; a few hours would take you there; but a journey of seventy miles, to be taken post by you, at your age, alone, unattended!
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
